The Theatrical Instrucor
by ArtistWithWords1901
Summary: Shannon Snow is a kindergarten teacher at Browning Elementary School in the small town of Browning. Her life is taken on a roller coaster ride when she gets a call from Louis Tomlinson, the new drama teacher at Browning High School. Will she overcome her shyness and be able to play the lead in the big musical that is life or will she continue to hide behind the curtains?
1. Chapter 1

The phone rang on the other side of the room. I held a finger up to my lips, signaling for them to be quiet.

"The phone is ringing! What does that mean?" I said in a loud whisper.

"Quiet time!" The room full of five-year-olds said almost in unison. Little fingers shot up to little lips and they froze.

"Good job! Now stay quiet until I say you can talk again." I hurried my way over to the phone on my desk. I could feel the eyes of all twelve children boring into my back as I answered the phone.

"Miss Snow's room." I said, holding the phone to my ear.

"Yes, Miss Snow? This is Mr. Tomlinson, from the high school." A young British voice answered.

"The drama teacher, right?" I asked. His name sounded familiar, which wasn't too unusual in a town this small.

"I actually prefer the term _theater instructor_." He said, I could hear the joking in his tone and the smile in his voice. I giggled in response. "I was calling about the play my drama club is putting on, The Wizard of Oz."

"You mean your _theater organization_." I smiled. I could hear him chuckle.

"Exactly. I am in need of munchkins for the play, so I talked to Mr. Meyers and he suggested you might be willing to donate your kindergarteners to the cause." I turned to look at the class. A few were still staring at me, fingers placed on their lips, some were staring but let their hands fall in their laps, others had continued to work on the picture we were coloring a moment ago.

"I'm up for it, but I have to ask their parents permission before I can garuntee anything."

"That's fine, can you let me know by next week?"

"That would be fine."

"Okay, you can contact me at the school when you find out."

"Alright, I'll let you know."

"Okay, goodbye, Mademoiselle Snow." I could almost see the dramatic bow that would've gone with that farewell. I could see why he was the drama teacher.

"Goodbye, Monsieur Tomlinson." I giggled before hanging up the phone.

I turned back to my class. They were all staring now, hands placed back over their mouths. I walked out from around my desk and stood in front of them, smiling.

"Simon says… stand up!" They all stood, grins spread across their faces. "Simon says you can put your hands down, but don't talk!" Hands fell. "Simon says line up!" They scrambled to get in a line. "Simon says jump once!" They smiled and did what I said. "Simon says clap twice!" Claps rippled from the line of children. "Simon says take three steps forward!" The zigzagged a bit as they moved forward. "Simon says touch your toes four times!" Heads bopped up and down and a few giggles rand through the group. "Stay quiet!" I warned them. "Simon says stomp your feet five times!" They started stomping, grinning from ear to ear. "Simon says you can talk." I smiled. They cheered in delight.

"Who's ready for lunch?" I asked after glancing at the time. 'I am's' erupted from the line of children. I quieted them down.

"Girls, if you brought cold lunch, go get your lunch boxes!" Six of my seven girls ran to their cubbies to grab their lunchboxes and returned to the line.

"Boys who brought cold lunch may get their lunch boxes!" Two of my five boys got theirs out of their cubbies and got back in line. "Are we ready to go?" I asked. Various sounds of conformation answered me. "Okay, but we have to be quiet when we walk down the halls, okay?" I put my finger back up to my lips. They followed my example and I led them out of the room and down the hall.

We entered the cafeteria and I walked them to the table that was reserved for them. "Boys on the left side, girls on the right!" I called over the other children in the cafeteria. They climbed onto the picnic table type seats as Mrs. Tape walked over.

"I have them from here, Shannon." She said smiling and waved at them.

"Thanks, Mrs. Tate." I smiled back to the other kindergarten teacher. My kindergarten teacher. She had been doing lunch duty since I was in her class, and she constantly reminds me now that we are both teachers that I was her favorite student.

I hurried back to my room to eat my lunch and write out permission slips. I plopped down in my desk chair and pulled my lunch out of the mini fridge that sat semi-hidden in the corner behind my desk. I sunk my teeth into my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cracked open a bottle of water.

I grabbed a piece of paper and a pin and began to write as I chewed.

"_Miss Snow's Kindergarten class has been invited to play munchkins in Browning High School's production of 'The Wizard of Oz.' Please sign and have your child return this slip back to school before Friday, 24__th__, if you give them permission to participate in this activity._

_**Parent/Guardian Sign Here:_**__**" **_

Satisfied with the letter, I took a swig of my water before grabbing my chocolate chip cookie and rushed out of the room and to the teachers' lounge.

I placed the paper in the copying machine and ran off fourteen. As I waited for them to finish scanning and printing I slowly ate my cookie.

"Your lunches are like the kids' lunches, Shannon." Someone laughed from the other side of the room. I turned to find Dan laughing at me from the table in the middle of the room. He slurped up a fork full of spaghetti. I cringed. He was discussing. "Maybe you should let me take you out to dinner sometime so you can try adult food." He suggested, spaghetti sauce dripping from his beard.

"No, thanks, Dan. I like my food." I said, not trying to hide the irritation in my voice. I angrily took a bite of cookie.

"Fine then, we can go to McDonalds and I'll get you a Happy Meal." He tried to sound seducing. He didn't realize he just sounded sickening.

I sighed, "Aren't your third graders about done with lunch?" He stood up, his round belly almost knocking the table over. He stretched, revealing the pit stains under his arms. He patted the fat that surrounded his stomach and moaned.

"See, this is what real, adult food does to you." He said, smiling. I shoved the rest of the cookie in my mouth before I grabbed the papers out of the machine and rushed out of the room.

I was relieved when I was safe inside my own room. I could sit and finish my apple slices in peace and quiet for the next ten minutes.

I walked back down to the cafeteria and gathered up my class, saying a quick thanks to Mrs. Tape before walking them back to the classroom. I gave them all their slips of paper and told them to give it to their parents as soon as they got home.

I could hear that British accent again and again every time I thought of the play. I couldn't help but wonder what he looked like. I knew one thing for sure, he hadn't been here for long if this was the first I was hearing about him. After all, gossip spreads like wildfire in small towns.


	2. Chapter 2

"Does everyone have their papers that your parents were supposed to sign?" I asked Friday morning once the bell had rang and we finished saying The Pledge of Allegiance. They searched through book bags and folders, pulling out papers with signatures. They passed them over to Emma, who was the paper collector. Emma gathered them up and walked them over to me. I thanked her and she smiled, her face turning slightly red before she went back to her desk.

I flipped through them and counted twelve signatures. For some reason, that put me in a great mood. I called everyone over to the Story Rug. They ran to see who could jump on their numbers first. Jacob was the first to make it to his number eleven. Ryan was second on number four, and Sarah landed firmly in third place on her number nine. Emma was the last to make it to number seven.

"Today we are going to read a story called, "_The Giving Tree."_ I announced as I sat on the Story Stool in front of the Story Rug. This was always one of my favorite stories growing up. I read through it once and I helped them make their own Giving Trees out of Elmer's glue and construction paper. We laid them on the Craft Table to let the glue dry.

I hurried back to my room after dropping my kids off at lunch. I lunged straight for the phone, not bothering to take out my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This excitement was the oddest thing I'd ever felt in my life. I pushed number three on the speed dial for the office at the high school.

"Browning High School, this is Pam speaking." The secretary said.

"Hey Pam, it's Shannon Snow." I said.

"Oh how are you, Miss Snow?" She replied, her voice sounding surprised but happy.

"I'm just fine, thank you, and you?"

"I am wonderful, thank you. Is there something wrong? Is Madison okay?" She asked.

"Your granddaughter is fine; in fact she's in lunch now. Actually I was calling because I need to speak with Mr. Tomlinson." There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.

"Oh about the play, right? I'll connect you to him. Bye Miss Snow."

"Thanks. Bye Pam." She pressed a few buttons and the phone began to ring again.

He picked up the phone on the fifth ring. I patiently waited as he gave his students instructions to look over their parts and study them.

"Mr. Tomlinson's room." He said bitterly.

"Hello, this is Miss Snow, the kindergarten teacher at the elementary school." I said hoping that he didn't forget. His mood changed on a dime.

"Oh, yes, Miss Snow, do you bear news about the munchkin shortage? No pun intended." I could hear a few of his students laugh. I had to giggle a bit too.

"Mr. Tomlinson, you are now the proud owner of twelve munchkins."

"That's fantastic! Though we may need to discuss some plans, but I have a class right now."

"Okay, when would you like to talk?"

"There's this coffee shop on Main Street called Maggie's, would you like to meet up there?"

"That would be great, what time?" Maggie's was one of my favorite places to go to grade papers or work out lesson plans in peace and quiet.

"How about tonight at eight?" He asked. Teenage voices in the background made a collective ooohhhh noise. I heard something crash and laughs respond. I smiled.

"Sure."

"Great I'll see you then." He said his voice softer.

"See you." I blushed. He started to say something loudly to his class as we hung up the phone. I sat there for a moment, staring at the stack of permission slips on my desk, smiling. I laughed once before I reached for my lunch.

"Aww, Shannon's got a date!" Dan said from my doorway. God he was persistent.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked, irritated.

"'_Hello, this is Miss Snow, the kindergarten teacher at the elementary school.'_" He mimicked my voice. "Who is it anyway?" His voice took on a mocking tone as he slowly plodded into my room. I took a bite of a HoHo and went to the craft table to check the glue.

"Mr. Tomlinson, the drama teacher from the high school, and it's not a date, this is purely business." I growled.

"Oh come now, Shannon. It's never _"purely business." _Where are you going?"

"A coffee shop." I spat back. He followed me around the room as I hung up the pictures.

"You better make sure it's one that serves cookies and milk." He laughed. I rolled my eyes as I climbed up on a chair, Robert's tree, a roll of masking tape, and HoHo in hand. "You know, Shannon, I think I like you from this angle better." I looked over my shoulder; my butt was at his eye level. I quickly jumped off the chair, fully ready to slap him.

"Mr. Smalls, Miss Snow, your classes are Waiting for you in the cafeteria." Julie, the secretary announced over the intercom. I looked at the time and my stomach did a flip.

"Oh crap!" I ran out the door and down to the cafeteria.

My class was sitting there waiting for me with Mrs. Tape.

"Hey, Mrs. Tape, I'm so sorry I'm late, I was wrapped up in an unfortunate event." I glanced over to Dan, who was just now moseying on over to his class.

"Is he still at it?" He asked as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight.

"Regretfully."

"It's okay, he'll leave you alone eventually as long as you keep turning him down." She reassured me and patted my arm.

"Thanks Mrs. Tape." I said and led my class back to the room, they marveled at their newly hung art work.

**(A/N; ****I know that Louis hasn't really been in the story so far but he's coming, trust me :)****)**


End file.
